The World Track Championships take
place this week in Melbourne, Australia. There are 6 women's medals up for
grabs - Sprint, Pursuit, 500m TT, Keirin, Scratch and Points. For
newcomers to track, a short definition of each event is given below.

Indications of form must surely come from the
Sydney round of the Track World Cup just 2 weeks ago. Winner of the sprint there
was Natallia Tsylinskaya (RUS) with Victoria Pendleton (GBR)
2nd. Sprinting takes explosive power and although a 2 lap race, the riders
will "play cat and mouse" until the final 200m - which is the
distance over which they are timed. But, since it is first to the finish
line who wins, the all-out effort can sometimes start much sooner than
200m - the riders trying to gain an element of surprise by
"jumping" early. This is the race where the riders are often
seen at walking pace, or even at a standstill, before battling it out to
the finish - sometimes in a physical manner.

Sarah Ulmer
(NZ) was best in the pursuit with a near-World Record time
and Karin Thurig was runner-up. However, Leontien Ziljard Van
Moorsel was not in Sydney - she must be a contender, as must local rider,
Katie Mactier - who won silver at last year's World Championships (behind
van Moorsel) in her first attempt at the discipline. The pursuit is where
riders start 1/2 a lap apart and try to record the fastest time over the
3km, or to catch their opponent before they reach 3km.

The points
race, where riders sprint on nominated laps to gain points towards an
overall total, was taken by Mexican, Belem Guerrero, followed by
Cuban Yoanka Gonzalez. Russia's Olga Slyusareva was third. All three are
on the entry sheet for this Championship.

The 500m TT was won in Sydney by the
Dutch rider Yvonne Hijgenaar. Second place was taken by Natalie
Tsylinskaya (BLR).

The Keirin - the Japanese-invented
sprint race where riders are paced from 30km/h to 45km/h by a special
moped, was won in Sydney by American, Jennie Reed with Katrin Meinke on
her tail.

Finally, the Scratch Race - a bunch
race with first over the line victorious was won by Olga Slyusareva (Rus).